Parolee gets 48 years for murdering, hiding woman in trunk

Posted on 08/14/2017

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) – The Greeley parolee who pleaded guilty in June to killing a woman and hiding her body in a trunk was sentenced to 48 years today.

David Batty, 54, was on parole for domestic violence in March 2016 when he strangled Tonya Webster and sodomized her with a novelty baseball bat before stuffing her body in a trunk. According to prior court testimony, two parole officers found Webster’s body while searching his home after he missed work and parole appointments.

Batty pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June and faced a maximum of 48 years.

“This person – I hate to call him a man – has a history of violence against women,” said Webster’s husband, Randy, while pleading for the maximum sentence. “He killed the mother of two children. He killed my wife. The only thing I can say is there’s no replacing her.”

Many of Batty’s convictions dating back to 1981 are centered around domestic violence. At the time of Webster’s murder, he was on parole for a 2010 second-degree assault against his then girlfriend.

According to investigators, Batty and Webster were in a sexual relationship at the time of the murder.

“This defendant is too dangerous of a person to be in this community,” said Deputy District Attorney Tate Costin. “To top off his heinous act, he spent the next few days with a body in his closet like nothing happened.”

“Ms. Webster would have turned 48 the year he murdered her,” she continued. “I'm asking the court to sentence him to 48 years so he can think about that every single day."